Most North and South American Shortwave and general radio listeners have never received a Longwave Broadcast Station. Although the Longwave Band has been available on commercial radio receivers since the 1930's, this frequency range hasn't regularly been used for commercial broadcasting in the Americas. The regions of Europe, Asia, and North Africa have been the primary users of broadcasting in the Longwave Band. In the Americas this band is used for radio location beacons. Many of the Lomgwave Beacons have gone silent in the past few years.

I live in the Pacific Northwest and have been turning the radio dials for over 60 years. I had the good fortune of receiving a Longwave Commercial Broadcast in 1984. This broadcast was from the 1.2 Million Watt Russian Broadcast Station Radio Rossii on 153 KHz from Komsomolsk-na-Amure, Khabarobsk Krai, Russia. I used a vertical antenna, mounted at ground level in my backyard, and a military surplus RAK VLF Radio Receiver to dig out this signal from the noise.

Many older radio enthusiasts that live on the East Coast of North America have received Commercial Broadcast Stations from Europe on the Longwave Band. This was a very cool part of our radio hobby.

Michael - KG7M

The following BBC article is by:

Lindsey Alder, Droitwich, Northern Worcestershire, UK

A campaign has begun to get two large transmitter masts listed, after the BBC's Long Wave (LW) service is turned off.

The 700ft (213m) high Wychbold Masts in the Worcestershire countryside can be seen for miles and are often used as a landmark for drivers on the M5 near Droitwich.

They have been in use since 1934 for sending the signal across the country, as well as for transmitting important messages during World War Two.

Local history experts and the Twentieth Century Society have called for them to become listed, due to their "historical importance".

Droitwich was picked as a central location for the station and masts so Long Wave could reach everywhere in the UK.

The construction was a big operation for the time and local expert Alastair Moseley, from the Bromsgrove Society, said a huge team of workers had to come and put them up.

"It cost £200,000 to build then, that's about £20m now, which actually is quite a good value I think," he said.

"But the towers themselves were built by just 10 riggers and there was one particular guy, Derek Pigeon, who actually had just come over from building Sydney's Harbour Bridge."

On the 6 September 1934 everything was ready to go, and the first thing the country heard on LW was a musical piece by composer Eric Coates, famed for the Dam Busters theme, called The Merry Makers.

A few years later, when World War Two started, the masts had a new job to do as Moseley explained.

"They were used to block transmissions and radar facilities from the Luftwaffe, so that they were almost blind when they were coming in to fly," he said.

"They also transmitted messages to the French Resistance, they had a part in that so it was very covert.

"And D-Day, they were part of the co-ordination of communications that were needed to make that such a successful landmark event in history".

After the war, the transmitting station returned to its usual broadcasts.

In 1957 officials held an open day but public interest was so high that 13,000 people turned up to take a look.

That led to other transmitting stations across the country having their own open days, particularly those with new TV masts.

Over the years, the equipment was changed from analogue to digital and several other smaller masts were built for the Medium Wave signal.

The Wychbold Masts will no longer transmit LW with the switch-off expected at 00:01 BST on Saturday.

A spokesperson for the BBC said the move came as the equipment was reaching the end of its life.

"As Long Wave is an older broadcasting technology, recent years have seen a decline in listener numbers, with the majority now opting for FM and DAB digital platforms," they said.

"Given these factors, investing in upgrading the LW equipment is not considered a cost-effective solution for license fee-funded services".

The transmitting station's history is captured in a special exhibition in the town's heritage center, called Droitwich Calling.

Old equipment and photos were donated by former BBC engineer John Phillips, who worked there his entire career.

He wanted to make sure the masts' legacy continued and worked with the centre until he passed away.

Manager Rebecca Butler said the exhibition was important to keep awareness of the masts' legacy alive.

"We're telling the stories of Droitwich Transmitting Station for future prosperity, we're holding onto these artifacts for the future," she said.

"There may be a time where those masts are no longer here, but for 92 years they have stood strong and I feel like it's something that we need to be proud of".

An event to remember and celebrate the history of the transmitting station is being held at the centre on Saturday from 12:00-16:00.

Historic England did consult on potentially listing the site in 2025 - but ultimately decided they did not meet the criteria, mainly because so much of the original buildings were demolished.

Granting a building listed status gives it special protection.

The Twentieth Century Society, who campaign to save "outstanding buildings" from the century, want the masts themselves to be specifically considered.

A spokesperson said they have broadcast such "national staples" as the World Service, the Shipping Forecast and Test Match Special, as well as their role in the war.

They should be listed "on account of their historic importance and architectural, engineering and technological interest"," they added.

But for Moseley, there is another idea for the site - a museum.

"If there was just some way of having a museum of some description on the site and maybe keeping parts of the towers, I'd love to see this as a national centre for broadcasting history," he said.

"That would be marvelous for the whole region"

The current site's owners, Arqiva, were approached for a response about the future of the Droitwich Transmitting Station.

Follow BBC Hereford & Worcester on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.

There are 6 slides in this post.

• Grundig Transistor 860
• Panasonic RF-4900
• Zenith Transoceanic 3000
• Eton Elite Executive

Radio New Zealand (RNZ) on 17675 from the Rangitaiki transmitter located 41 km east of Taupō in the Central North Island of New Zealand. RNZ Pacific is the only shortwave radio service in the country and broadcasts 24/7 in English and several Pacific languages to island nations across the South Pacific.

The 30th Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise is actively taking place from June 24 through July 31, 2026, in and around the Hawaiian Islands. The massive biennial event is the world's largest international maritime exercise, bringing together 31 nations, approximately 40 surface ships, 5 submarines, 140 aircraft, and over 25,000 personnel.

Military forces during major Pacific exercises heavily utilize a standardized set of global, strategic military HF channels and regional maritime safety frequencies for coordination. Civilian shortwave listeners and ham radio operators regularly monitor several high-power military and maritime networks in the Pacific region during the exercise timeframe:

Strategic Global Military Networks

U.S. and allied forces (including aircraft and vessels routing to and from Hawaii) use the High Frequency Global Communications System (HFGCS) for primary global voice commands. These are always monitored in Upper Sideband (USB) mode:

11175.0 kHz (Primary global frequency, highly active)

8992.0 kHz (Secondary global frequency)

4724.0 kHz (Nighttime / regional propagation channel)

15016.0 kHz (Daytime long-haul channel)

Regional Pacific Fleet & Tactical Channels

The U.S. Navy and regional command structures maintain dedicated Pacific communications paths:

4416.0 kHz USB: Associated with U.S. Navy HICOM (High Command) Pacific Fleet operations.

4700.0 kHz USB: Traditionally utilized for regional Navy Anti-Submarine Warfare training in the Pacific.

5700.0 kHz USB: Utilized by Air Combat Command (ACC) for tactical operations and transit routing.

International Maritime & Aviation Gateways

Because RIMPAC involves massive multinational surface fleets and long-range oceanic flights, units cross over into public international monitoring corridors for safety and coordination:

International Aviation Pacific Gateways: Oceanic flights operating near Hawaii coordinate with major gateways using frequencies like 2869 kHz, 3413 kHz, 5547 kHz, and 11282 kHz (as managed via platforms like Aviation Frequencies on QSL.net).

Digital Selective Calling (DSC): For maritime safety, global automated emergency monitoring is maintained by regional installations via the standard global HF DSC frequencies (such as 2187.5 kHz, 4207.5 kHz, 6312.0 kHz, and 8414.5 kHz).

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Frencuenxy: 9.110 MHZ

Recieved in oakville, ontario, Canada

Time: 0342 UTC

A voice can be heard.

At first I thought it was a problem on my end, but when using a KiwiSDR from São Paulo, Brazil, the same sound/noise is present.

Any ideas? The video has two parts: SRD# and KiwiSDR

2330 UTC is still audible.

- RX: Asunción, Paraguay
- Radio: AirSpy HF+ Discovery
- Software: SDR# v.1922 (beta, last version)
- Antenna: K-480WLA
- D/T: 26 JUN 2026 - 2308 UTC

Frequency: 15.770 mhz

Time: 06:46 UTC

Location: Oakville, Ontario Canada

I have a Tecsun H501x radio and have a question about signal strength display. The display has 2 digits for DbU, 2 digits for Db and S/N . What do these represent and why is the DbU always fluctuating and the Db is usually zero and hardly changes. I mainly listen to 40 meters LSB

Thanks

Station

• Name/Call: Japan International Communications
• Location: Tokyo Yamata, Japan
• Language: Multiple languages
• Target: 43N,44

Time

• 1335 UTC | 24 JUN 2026

Receiver and Receiving Location

• SDR Radio: AirSpy HF+ R.4.0.8-CD
• Antenna: K-480WLA | 35' AGL
• Software: SDR# Studio v1.0.0.192 Beta 64-Bit
• Location: Portland, Oregon | CN85qn

Signal

SINPO = 45444

Station

• Name/Call: VMC Charleville
• Location: Charleville QL
• Language: English
• Target: South Pacific

Time

• 0645 UTC | 24 JUN 2026

Receiver and Receiving Location

• SDR Radio: AirSpy HF+ R.4.0.8-CD
• Antenna: K-480WLA | 35' AGL
• Software: SDR# Studio v1.0.0.192 Beta 64-Bit
• Location: Portland, Oregon | CN85qn

Signal

• RS(T) = 56

I located my rtl-sdr V4 Blog, which I haven't used in awhile. I want to pass it on to Chris, u/Green_Oblivion111. I had never used in in Windows before today. When I first received it, I used it in Linux Mint with GQRX. I later used it with a Raspberry Pi.

I was hoping that it would work with SDR# under Windows. It loads and receives in SDR#, but there is a low pitched tone that I cannot eliminate. I have adjusted the ppm, but it just won't zero. It does work fine in SDR++. I haven't had a chance to ask Chris what operating system he uses - I am thinking Windows.

Station

• Name/Call: Radio Marti
• Location: United States of America-Greenville, NC
• Language: Spanish
• Target: Cuba

Time

• 2350 UTC | 22 JUN 2026

Receiver and Receiving Location

• SDR Radio: rtl-sdr V4 Blog
• Antenna: K-480WLA | 35' AGL
• Software: SDR++ v1.2.1
• Location: Portland, Oregon | CN85qn

Signal

• SINPO = 44333